If you're itching to get your protest on right about now, but can't figure out which antiwar group to follow, here's the deal: If you're a folksy candlelight-vigil sit-in sort, you should check in with Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW) at snowcoalition.org or 789-2684. If you're a spunkier, more aggressive protester who likes to wrap police tape around federal buildings, you should check in with Seattle Not In Our Name (NION) at notinourname-Seattle.net or 322-3813.

Believe me, I'm not fabricating this divide. Earlier this week, a SNOW leader, Fred Miller, sent out a testy e-mail urging people to stay away from a March 17 NION rally. NION responded, calling Miller "divisive and very unpeaceful." JOSH FEIT

Cantwell Backpedals on Iraq

When U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell attempted to justify her pro-war vote to a largely antiwar constituency last September, she said that war in Iraq must be contingent on international and UN support. So on Monday, March 17, Larry Dennison of Port Townsend wrote to Cantwell to ask why we hadn't heard a peep from her since Bush abandoned diplomacy and told Saddam and his sons to get out of Dodge by sunrise. Larry wrote, sarcastically, that if the president were truly interested in saving American lives, he would "shut down tobacco companies" and "prosecute their executives" instead of targeting Iraq.

Cantwell's reply? "Thank you for contacting me regarding continued federal oversight of the tobacco industry... as a nation, we must make preventing youth smoking a higher priority." The senator's two-page reply didn't mention Iraq.

Larry sent off another message to Cantwell on Tuesday: "Just a quick note... you completely and totally missed the point...."

Cantwell's office told The Stranger she did not have a statement on the war. MAURICE KING

Antiwar Activists Sentenced

Veteran peaceniks Jean Buskin and Anne Hall head to jail on Monday, March 24, to serve time for participating in an antiwar sit-in last fall at the downtown Seattle offices of U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. Buskin, Hall, and 10 others, all affiliated with Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War, were arrested on September 25, 2002, when they refused to leave the senators' offices at closing time.

At their sentencing, Buskin and Hall's 10 cohorts received six months of unsupervised probation, but Buskin and Hall, who both had prior civil-disobedience convictions, were given 20 and seven days, respectively. Biochemist Buskin seemed undaunted by the sentence. She told The Stranger that it was time for more pressure. MAURICE KING

Media War

In response to local pro-war television ads sponsored by conservative talk radio station KVI--and perhaps in response to The Stranger's urging ["Not Ready for Prime Time," Amy Jenniges, March 13]--the Seattle-based Independent Filmmakers Against War has produced an antiwar commercial, set to air on local cable 500 times over the next month. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

Peace in the East

Forgoing the downtown Seattle rally, Eastside antiwar activists have their sights on U.S. Representative Jennifer Dunn. From 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on the day war starts, members of the Eastside Suburban Peace Network--based in Dunn's district--will peacefully protest on the sidewalk outside the Republican rep's Mercer Island office (2737 78th Avenue Southeast). The suburban peaceniks say there will be no civil disobedience or traffic interference, and urge people to bring "comfy shoes, warm clothing, and conviction." AMY JENNIGES

Christian Jihad

On the morning after Bush's war announcement, at Republican King County Council Member Rob McKenna's campaign-kickoff breakfast in Bellevue, Sheriff Dave Reichert gave the invocation--asking the 1700 folks who crowded into Meydenbauer Center to pray for the president and the troops. Fair enough. However, Reichert reportedly--and somewhat evangelically--went on to offer a prayer asking nonbelievers to take up faith in God. JOSH FEIT

War Letter

A Central District resident whose home sports the ubiquitous red-white-and-blue "No Iraq War" sign got a letter from a sarcastic (and angry) right-winger in the mail on Monday, March 17. "Dear World Leader," the note said. "Thank you for your support of appeasement. It is working. Mr. Saddam Hussein is heartened and strengthened by the media reports of our efforts. This will aid our cause greatly. We cannot allow him to be disarmed. We will need his weapons in the months to come. We will succeed in destroying Christianity and the immoral civilization it has bred. We understand the dangers of a government which does not start with the demand for virtue, as Islam requires. We see the results of 'freedom' to choose. You will not be forgotten. Your reward will be great. Allah be praised!"

It's uncertain if the note's author--it was signed "Your friend in Islamic Jihad"--plans to write to every household with a "No Iraq War" sign in the window. AMY JENNIGES